The Alternate Universe
by maroon.again
Summary: A different Orange County. A different arrival to Newport Beach and, along the way, an entire reimagining of the series as we know it.
1. Chapter 1: The Beginning

By: MaroonAgain

The Alternate Universe

Chapter One: The Beginning

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to The OC or the characters.

* * *

"Come on man, did you bring the goods or not?" demanded Johnny Harper in an agitated voice as he took a seat next to a tall thin boy with jet black hair.

Seth Schnaittacher rolled his eyes as the newcomer took a seat next to him on the bench.

It was a busy afternoon in the Moreno Valley Mall. As usual the mall was flooded with shoppers hurrying from one place to another. Seth usually did not operate out in the open like this, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Seth glanced around the crowd of passing people and spotted two surly looking mall cops eyeing him suspiciously.

Seth gulped.

"Dude, bro, did you bring it or not?" asked Johnny again, raising his voice a little higher.

"You wanna be any louder, man? I'm sure there are a few people down at the other end of the mall that didn't quite catch what you were saying." retorted Seth, sarcastically.

Johnny narrowed his eyes.

"I just don't see what you're all freaked out about. We've been in much tighter spots before. Remember when we were chased by the cops after stealing that ladies Porsche? She about had a heart attack. And, after we ditched the car we got away scot free!" said Johnny with a laugh as he gazed off into space.

"Um, correct me if I am wrong here but, I am pretty sure that lady did have a heart attack." said Seth.

"Yeah, well you were being a little bitch and wouldn't get into the car." said Johnny, as though this settled the matter.

"Dude, you put a gun in her face. What did you expect?" said Seth.

"Look man, you're the best supplier I know. Do you have the weed or not?" said Johnny, his eyes back on Seth and his tone business like once more.

Seth paused for a moment before tapping his jacket pocket.

"Of course I do." he said with a grin.

"Sir, I am going to have to ask you to turn out your pockets." came a loud assertive voice directly behind them.

Seth and Johnny both jumped to their feet as though the bench had been electrified.

"I'm sorry, can you repeat that for me?" asked Seth, nervously.

"Look kid, don't play dumb with me. I know exactly what the two of you are up to. Turn out your pockets or I am calling the cops." said the mall officer in an aggressive tone of voice.

It was in that instant, when both boys looked at each other, that they reacted.

"Hey, get back here!" yelled the security guard as both boys got to their feet and tore off in opposite directions.

Seth, not bothering to look over his shoulder, began to run as fast as his legs would carry him into the crowd of people. There were shouts and yells as he bumped into passers by. Ahead of him was the escalator. If he could just get to it he knew he would be in the clear—

The next thing he knew he was laying flat on his back. The world has suddenly turned upside down and then with a loud crash he hit the floor. It was all over. Seth looked around to see police officers intermingled with security officers as he was surrounded on all sides. He could feel cuffs being placed on him, and someone speaking to him loudly and clearly. He could only hope that Johnny had fared better than he had. That he had managed to get away.

* * *

Sandy Cohen walked into the visiting area of the Moreno Valley Police Department, waiting for his client to emerge. He hated this part of his job. Everyone in the public defenders office always looked to him to take these cases. Sandy had to admit to himself that he did not mind in the slightest. He would rather help some hopeless kid navigate his or her way through the justice system than deal with cases involving some rich entitled lunatic throwing a tantrum because their neighbor wanted to grow their hedges over their backyard fence. He had to admit though, it was depressing when he saw what the justice system wanted to do to some of these kids.

Sandy took a seat at one of the available tables and picked up the case file for today eager to do another run through before his client arrived. The kid was from Corona, arrested for possession with intent to distribute. Sandy noticed in the report that another boy was mentioned. It appeared that this other boy had managed to slip away. They wanted to charge him with a felony possession. Sandy was about to go through the kids report further when the buzzer sounded, indicating that his client was coming in.

"Sandy Cohen, I'll be your—"

Sandy was struck dumb. It was as though he had looked in a mirror that depicted himself as a teenager. It was quite shocking but Sandy quickly recovered, sticking his hand out to shake the boy's.

"Hey, Seth Schnaittacher. I take it you have been appointed as my public defender. Nice eyebrows man, are all lawyers as killer as you?" said the boy with a laugh as he took a seat opposite Sandy.

"You gonna take care of these charges?" Seth asked hopefully.

"Well, since this is your first offense it appears, I am sure we can plead this down to a misdemeanor. You're gonna be looking at a petty fine and probation but little to no jail time." replied Sandy.

"Look at you go man! Right out of the gate!" said Seth.

"So what's with the weed kid? It says here in your file that you scored off the chart on your P-SAT's and your grades are quite exceptional too. It seems you just have a small problem with tardiness and an apparent disregard for authority figures, but you could easily turn those grades and test scores into a college scholarship. Have you given any thought to what you want to do after high school?" said Sandy.

At this Seth actually smirked.

"Come on man, be realistic here. Have you seen where I come from? You think kids like me grow up to be doctors, teachers, lawyers?" asked Seth pointing at Sandy.

Sandy paused for a moment before replying.

"I did." he said in a hard voice.

"Yeah, well all the better for you I guess." said Seth sounded deflated.

"Look, selling dope because you think it's cool, or the only way to make a living is stupid, and it's low, and those are two things you can't afford to be—" said Sandy, his tone more aggressive.

"Yeah, well add them to the list then." said Seth as he ran his fingers through his unkempt hair.

"You can change that kid! Start attending class and get over the fact that life dealt you a bad hand. Look, you and I, we're cut from the same deck. I grew up no money, bad part of the Bronx. I was pissed at the world, but I didn't let it stop me." said Sandy.

"Look at you now." said Seth raising his eyebrows at Sandy.

There was silence for a few moments before Seth speaks again.

"So can you get me out of here?" he asks politely.

Sandy smiles.

"Yeah, I've already posted your bail. You'll be out as soon as they finish your paperwork."

Ten minutes later found both Seth and Sandy outside in the blazing California heat. Seth, back in his normal clothes, squinted around for a sign of his mother.

"The police department notified her last night that you had bee arrested and my office confirmed this morning that she would be here to pick you up once you were released from custody. Give me a second and I'll try and give her another.

Sandy pulled his cellphone out of his breast coat pocket and dialed the number that his office had provided him.

"All I am getting is a busy signal." said Sandy.

"What a wonderful way to start the weekend." says Seth in a defeated tone as he slumped to the curb.

"Where do you live?" asked Sandy, looking down at Seth.

Seth looked up at Sandy.

"Not too far, about thirty minutes up the road." he said with a groan.

"Want a lift?" asked Sandy with a smile.

"No, it's alright. You've done so much for me already. I can take it from here."said Seth.

"Well, here have this anyway." said Sandy, pulling out one of his business cards.

Seth looked down at the card, as he got back to his feet, then looked up at Sandy.

"It's got the number to my office on there as well as my cellphone. You know, just in case things get to be too much. Give me a call." said Sandy.

"Why are you doing all this for me? You've already done so much as it is just by getting me out of there." asked Seth as he hitched his backpack a little further up on his back and picked up his skateboard.

"Like I said before, I've been where you are now. If I did not get the guidance I had received along the way, I wouldn't be where I am now." said Sandy.

Seth nodded.

"I'll be in touch with you soon, Seth." said Sandy with a wave of his hand.

Slightly curious as to just how soon that might be, Seth put skateboard wheels to pavement and began his trek back home.

Thirty minutes later found Seth walking up the street mere minutes from his house.

It was then that he spotted a familiar black BMW parked just a few houses down. He noticed it was parked outside his house.

"What are you like, the California night stalker now? What are you doing out while the sun is still high in the sky?" asked Seth as he approached Sandy.

Sandy's chuckle was short lived.

"I got a grin out of you. I'll take what I can get. So what brings you to my neck of the woods? I figured I would not see you this soon." asked Seth with a quizzical look on his face.

"And you say that like it's a bad thing." said Sandy as he followed Seth's gaze up to the house.

Seth looked from the house, with it's overgrown front yard and peeling paint, then back to Sandy and let out a long drawn out sigh.

"Sh — she isn't there, is she?" he asked in a hollow voice.

"I'm sorry, kiddo." said Sandy.

"Well, this wouldn't be the first time that this has happened." said Seth dejectedly as he started to make his way up to the house. He knew he would find his things in his bedroom.

"Don't bother." said Sandy.

Seth stopped and turned to him.

"Sorry, the door was unlocked when I knocked. Come on, let's go." said Sandy, patting Seth on the shoulder and walking around the front of his car to climb into the driver seat.

Seth put his backpack and skateboard in the backseat of Sandy's car, then climbed into the passenger seat.

"This is a really nice car. I didn't know you lawyer's make this kind of money." said Seth with a surprised look on his face.

"We don't. My wife does though." said Sandy with a smirk.

Within ten minutes they had made their way onto the interstate.

"Look, I know I was kind of a smart ass earlier, but just so you know, thanks, for everything." said Seth, seriously.

"I am gonna make sure everything works out for you, Seth." replied Sandy.

After a lengthily drive up into the coastal hills the houses began to grow larger and larger. Seth's eyes grew round as dinner plates as they pulled into a gated community where people in golf carts milled around and ever so often a passer by waved and gave a cheerful greeting to Sandy.

As the car pulled up into the drive way of what appeared to be the largest and grandest house Seth had yet seen, Sandy spoke.

"So, I think it best that you stay here for the moment. I haven't really let the wife know that I was bringing company for the weekend." said Sandy.

Seth raised his eyebrows.

"Well best of luck?" said Seth, not all very convincingly.

Seth watched as Sandy walked up the drive and into the house.

"Kirsten?" Sandy called as he closed the front door behind him.

"In the kitchen, Sandy." came the voice of his wife.

Sandy quickened his strides and found his beautiful, blonde wife rummaging around in one of the kitchen drawers.

"What are you doing?" asked Sandy.

"Going through take out menus. How does Thai sound?"she asked pulling out a large stack of to-go menus and spreading them out on the kitchen counter.

"That sounds great—" began Sandy.

He knew it was best to just say what needed to be said.

His wife reminded silent for the few minutes that he explained why he did what he had done.

Then —

"You brought him home?" yelled Kirsten.

Sandy bit his lip.

"This is not some stray kitten, Sandy. Did you even think about Ryan?" she demanded.

"Look it's just for the weekend. Just till Child Services opens on Monday." explained Sandy walking around the kitchen island to stand in front of his wife.

Kirsten looked up from the menus and stared at her husband.

"I knew it was only a matter of time before you started bringing your work home with you. Now we get to have a felon live under our roof—"

"Come on, Kirsten. Seth is not some felon."

"Did you not meet him in jail?" asked Kirsten, raising one of her eyebrows.

"Yes, technically, but it wasn't for a felony—"

"Okay, it was, but it won't be when I work my magic!" said Sandy as Kirsten just looked at him before walking around him and making her way out of the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" asked Sandy.

"Where do you think I am going, Sandy? That kid is going to need fresh sheets, a towel and a tooth brush. Oh, and he is sleeping in the pool house!" finished Kirsten as she left the kitchen and vanished around the corner.

Sandy grinned to himself.

Back outside Seth sat, drumming his fingers on his knees. He wasn't very fond if being in confined spaces for extended periods of time. He unlocked the passenger door and stepped out into the cool California evening air. He grabbed his skateboard, and strolled down the drive way. It appeared that the Cohen's lived in a cul-da-sac. Seth smiled to himself. Minimal traffic in and out. In other words, a perfect spot to skate without fear of being hit by oncoming traffic.

As he began to circle the cul-da-sac, Seth had to admit to himself that, in another life, obviously, he could see himself growing up here. Sure, he had not yet met anyone else in Newport, but if they were anything like Sandy, he could tolerate them.

Suddenly the brimming darkness was filled with bright, white light. Seth, caught off guard lost control of himself and his board slid out from under his feet. He hit the ground on all fours as something loud, roared past his field of vision.

"Watch it, jackass!" came a male voice from the large black truck that had so nearly hit Seth.

Seth got to his feet and looked over to see the truck parking in the driveway of the house adjacent to the Cohen's. As he walked over to retrieve his skateboard Seth noticed two slender, attractive girls climbing out of the truck. The first was a little shorter than the other with long dark hair and tan skin. The second girl was about a head taller than the first, with brown hair and fair skin. The second one seemed to be talking to whoever else was in the truck.

The first girl was walking up to Seth with a mixed look on her face of concern and anger.

"You really shouldn't be doing that, you know!" she demanded.

"It's, like, dark out. What if he had hit you?" said the girl.

Seth watched the truck back out of the driveway for a brief moment and got a good look at the driver. Tall, short hair, and muscly. Even at a distance Seth could tell that this was not someone he could see himself being friends with.

"Hello?"

Seth's attention turned back to the dark haired girl.

"Well, it wouldn't be the worst thing to happen to me this week." said Seth.

The girl chuckled, brushing a strand of hair out of her face.

"Who are you, anyway?" she asked as the second girl walked up behind her.

"Me? Oh, I'm nobody." said Seth, taken aback at both girl's beauty.

He gulped.

"Nobody, huh?" asked the second girl.

"Seriously though." asked the first girl, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Seriously—" said Seth, pausing for a brief moment to ponder his response. He decided with the truth.

"I was selling drugs at the mall to a friend of mine and got caught by the man. Went to jail. Then got out of jail and found out that my mother had up and moved out of our old house. Probably drunk, or on drugs, or something along those lines. I had nowhere to go, so Mr. Cohen took me in." said Seth.

Nobody spoke for a few seconds, then the second girl asked, "You're their cousin from Austin, aren't you?"

"Sure, lets go with that. I can see myself hanging with the hipsters in coffee shops and I kill for live music!" said Seth.

The first girl laughed again.

"Hello, ladies!" came a voice from behind Seth.

Sandy had made his way down the driveway and had walked up behind Seth, smiling at both girls.

"Hello, Mr. Cohen. We were just saying hello to your nephew." said the second girl.

Sandy looked confused for the briefest of moments before he replied.

"Well, Marissa, this is my favorite nephew, Seth. All the way from Boston!" said Sandy.

"Boston, huh." asked the first girl, raising her eyebrows.

"Mom, lives there! Dad lives in Austin. Ugly break up, you do not want to hear the details, trust me!" said Seth in a hurried voice.

The first girl laughed yet again.

"Well, Summer, we're all really excited for your fashion show fund-raiser tomorrow night." said Sandy.

"Oh, you are?" asked Summer turning her attention away from Seth for the first time.

Sandy bit his lip.

"No." he said as everyone laughs.

"You should come by, you know, if you're not doing anything tomorrow." said Summer as she turns her gaze back towards Seth.

"I will have to check my calendar and get back to you but I am pretty sure I can make that happen!" he said with a shifty grin.

Summer smiled then turned to Marissa.

"Come on, Coop." she said as she waved to both Seth and Sandy before making the trek back up the driveway.

"See ya!" said Marissa before turning around to jog and catch up with Summer.

"Look at you go, making friends already!" said Sandy as both man and boy walked back up the driveway and into the large house.

Seth was in awe of the inside of the house. Sandy led him through the living room and kitchen and out the backdoor, past the sparingly clean pool and into the pool house.

"Well, this is the queen of the castle herself, my wife Kirsten." said Sandy as Seth reached out to shake her hand.

"Welcome to our home, Seth if you need anything, do not hesitate to ask." she said extending a warm smile in his direction.

"We will see you in the morning, kiddo!" said Sandy as they both left, leaving Seth alone in a very unfamiliar environment.

* * *

Bright sunlight pierced the windows of the pool house, as Seth awoke the following day. Groggy eyed, and tousle haired Seth made his way into the kitchen where a blonde haired boy about his age was sitting at the table, eating cereal straight from the box.

The boy paused as Seth entered.

"Hey." he said.

"Hey." said Seth with a wave.

"Coffee?" asked the boy, who then pointed at the coffee pot next to the stove.

Seth walked over and poured himself a measurable amount before turning back to the boy.

"I'm Seth, nice to meet you." he said.

"Ryan." said the boy.

They shook hands.

The boy seemed good natured, thought Seth, even if he didn't seem to talk much.

Seth walked back over the the kitchen island and Ryan spoke again, "Beagles are in the pantry if you want one. Cream cheese is in the fridge, too."

"Damn, you're good." said Seth as he pulled a fresh beagle out of the pantry.

"Well, I see that you two have met." said Sandy.

"Ah, a beagle man, huh?" he added looking over at Seth.

"Best way to start the day in my opinion! And speaking of the day, it's beautiful outside. Ryan, why don't you show Seth around?" asked Sandy, who was spreading liberal amounts of cream cheese on his beagle.

"What do you want to do?" asked Ryan looking around at Seth.

"i don't know. What do you guys usually do around here?" asked Seth.

The afternoon passed in a haze of fun. Both Seth and Ryan spent most of their time riding around Newport. Seth on his skateboard and Ryan on his bicycle. Ryan showed Seth the local diner down by the pier and they also spend an enjoyable couple of hours watching the waves roll in.

"I have to say, this place is something else!" said Seth, smiling as they walked back into the Cohen household.

Ryan nodded.

"I can't believe your dad surfs. That is so cool, man!" said Seth as they walked into the kitchen; Ryan grabbing a water from the fridge and tossing it to Seth before grabbing his own.

"Alright, you two. I figured we would all head over to the fashion show at about seven." came Kirsten as she walked into the kitchen, closely followed by her husband.

"Yeah, no thanks." said Ryan.

"Come on, it's a new school year, Ryan." said Sandy.

"Yeah, and it's still the same group of kids, dad. I don't really want another year, like last year." said Ryan.

Sandy paused for a moment. Seth assumed they were both sharing a tense family moment.

"Look, I understand, but you can't just hide out here at home. Plus, Seth has to go. Summer invited him." explained Sandy as though this would settle the matter.

Both Ryan and Kirsten paused looking perplexed as they both turned in unison to look at Seth who was leaning against the stove.

"Hey, don't you pin this on me man." he replied, raising his hands in front of him.

"Summer invited you?" asked Ryan, sounding amazed.

"What can I say man, she must dig the jew hair." said Seth.

Ryan's lip twitched.

"Almost a smile. Don't worry we will get there!" said Seth.

The sun had started to sink low over the Pacific as Seth stood in front of the full length mirror, admiring himself. Sandy had managed to find an old suit for Seth to try on. It was a tad roomy in the shoulders but other than that, it fit quite nicely.

"Looking sharp. And the tie, too? I didn't learn how to tie a tie still I was twenty-five." said Sandy as both boys followed Kirsten out the front door.

The drive out to the fashion show is a short one, though Seth noticed that Ryan seemed a little subdue.

"So, what happened last year?" asked Seth in a quiet voice so that Sandy and Kirsten could not hear them.

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it." said Ryan.

Seth didn't pursue the subject.

A few minutes later they arrive and Kirsten handed her car keys over to the valley. She and Sandy waved to the boys and then walked off to meet up with a few of the other adults while Seth and Ryan ventured off into the crowd.

"So are we meeting up with anyone else here? I see some people that are around our age. Who knows maybe Summer and Marissa are around here." said Seth looking around as though there might be a sign post that explained where the two girls were.

"Look, I kinda just keep to myself. And I would rather not see Marissa if I can avoid it. Last thing I need right now is to run into her or Luke again." said Ryan as they sat down at a table next to the runway.

"Alright, I'm sensing something happened between the three of you. Don't worry we can just leave it at that." Seth said quickly at a look from Ryan.

"Besides, I can honestly say that I do not like the kid much, either." said Seth, who then explained all about the incident the night before in which he had nearly become road kill.

By the time Seth had finished his story, the show had started and girls in different beautiful gowns and dresses began to make their way out onto the runway. Seth watched as Marissa walked out into the runway to loud cheers from Luke who was sitting right across from Ryan and himself on the other side of the runway. Marissa spotted Seth and Ryan and gave them a small wave which did not go unnoticed by Luke. Seth watched as Luke leaned in to communicate with three other boys, all of which seem to be built along the same line as Luke was.

Next out onto the runway was Summer who strutted her way down the runway only to pause to shoot a smile at Seth. One of the dark haired boys next to Luke shot a look at Seth that clearly meant he wished him great pain and suffering.

"Um, who are the other three guys over there with Luke?" asked Seth nervously to Ryan.

Ryan glanced across the runway at the boys then looked back at Seth.

"Well, the one on Luke's left is Zach. He and Summer use to be a thing but as far as I know they are just what you would call friends now. The guy on Luke's right is Chip, and I believe the other guy is Norland. I don't really know too much about them other than the fact that they are all on the water polo team and are always with Luke." said Ryan.

"Lovely. Hey, I'm gonna go take a leak real fast. I'll be right back." said Seth in a hollow sort of voice, getting to his feet and making his way towards the restroom.

Upon entering the bathroom he heard what sounded like a man crying in one of the bathroom stalls. Seth walked over to one of the urinals and after finishing his business gave the handle a turn. A loud flushing noise filled the bathroom and the crying that was coming from the end stall came to an abrupt end. As Seth busied himself with washing his hands as a tall man with grey hair emerged, and, taking one look at Seth, hurried out of the bathroom without a backward glance.

"Awkward." said Seth to himself as he dried his hands.

Seth made his way back to where Ryan was sitting and quickly filled him in on what he saw in the bathroom.

"A guy with grey hair in a black suit? That could be anyone, Seth." Ryan replied, rolling his eyes.

Seth looked hastily around the room.

"There, it was that guy! said Seth excitedly pointing a long finger across the runway.

"Will you put that down!" hissed Ryan, knocking Seth's hand away so that nobody would see.

"Right, we don't want to compromise our cover." said Seth.

"That's Summer's dad." explained Ryan in a somber sort of voice.

"Family trouble? Maybe she needs a shoulder to cry on. I can supply said shoulder you know." said Seth, more to himself than to Ryan who was looking at him like he was crazy.

"Do you hear yourself sometime?" asked Ryan.

"Sorry, what?" asked Seth. Clearly he was not paying attention.

"Come on, lets get out of here. It looks like its wrapping up." said Ryan who was getting to his feet.

As both boys made their way to the exit, a hand reached out and pulled Seth back.

"Hey, where are you going?"

It was Summer. She was still in one of the dresses she had been wearing out on the runway and seemed out of breath. Had she ran to meet Seth before he left?

"Um, well the show seems to be coming to an end so we were just going to head back home." said Seth.

Behind him, Ryan nodded, though he did not make eye contact with Summer.

"Well, Holly — um, one of my friends, she's is having a party at her parent's beach house. You know, for all the hard work we've been putting in and stuff. You — both of you, should come out." said Summer awkwardly.

"Yes — yeah, that sounds like fun." said Seth at once before Ryan could add his two cents.

"Cool." said Summer, who turned slightly pink, smiled then turned and ran back towards the changing room.

"Seth, are you serious?" asked Ryan once Summer was gone.

"Look man, we go for a little bit and if it sucks we can always bail!" said Seth with a pleading look on his face.

Ryan did not say anything.

"Look, we avoid Luke and his group of beefed up buddies and just have a drink. Come on man, I never get the chance to go to cool parties, and the ones I go to tank pretty early. Plus, how in the hell was I suppose to tell Summer no?" complained Seth.

"Alright, we will go for one hour." said Ryan firmly.

* * *

"Wow, now this is what I would call a party!" said Seth as he and Ryan crossed the threshold.

The music was blaring loudly from speakers on the ceiling and the house was crammed full of people. Drinks littered the coffee table and in a far corner off the hallway Seth could see two or three other people smoking what he could only assume to be pot.

"Remember, one hour!" yelled Ryan over all of the hubbub.

"You got it, dad. Now come on, lets have a drink!" said Seth making his way outside and dragging Ryan with him.

"What the hell is he doing here?" demanded Luke, as both Ryan and Seth exited out the backdoor.

"Well, I'm not too sure why Cohen is here, but I believe Summer invited that other kid out." said Chip, who was sitting on the counter drinking a beer.

"She what?" demanded Zach Stephens in an angry tone.

"Yeah, I overheard her telling Holly she had invited that new kid out and since he is staying with the Cohen's, Ryan came too." explained Chip.

Both Luke and Zach looked outraged.

"Well, their time here is going to be short lived!" said Luke as both he and Zach marched out of the kitchen and out the backdoor onto the patio.

"Where are they off to?" asked Marissa emerging from the bathroom with Summer.

Summer took a look around the crowed house, a frown on her face.

"They just went outside to grab another drink!" said Chip, inventing wildly and hopping down off the counter and running after both Luke and Zach.

"Come on. Let's go see what they are up to." said Marissa, following Chip.

Both Seth and Ryan were a few yards out from the back of the house keeping warm by the large bonfire that was blazing merely down by the water.

"I gotta tell you Ryan, you're a really cool guy. This was probably the best weekend I could have ever asked for." said Seth, raising his drink to toast Ryan's.

"Yeah man, maybe when my dad is done working his magic you can come visit sometime. I know for a fact the pool house will always be available." said Ryan taking a sip of his beer.

"Yeah, that would be pretty cool!" said Seth with a smile.

"Well, well, well, look at you go, Cohen. You got yourself a boyfriend." came a malicious voice from behind them.

Both Ryan and Seth turned around to see Luke and Zach walking up to them. Their arrogant features flashing in the bright light cast by the fire.

"I had no idea you were a queer." laughed Zach.

Ryan's face hardened.

"Look, we aren't here to cause any trouble you two." piped up Seth nervously.

"Shut the hell up!" yelled Zach.

"I don't know who the hell you are, or what you're doing here in Newport but you best be leaving. Take your boyfriend with you, freak." said Luke in a menacing voice.

"Shut the hell up." said Ryan on a soft, but dangerous voice that still carried over the whisper of the flames.

"What did you say?" asked Luke, even though he had heard exactly what Ryan had said.

"I said, shut the hell up." said Ryan again, louder.

Luke's eyes narrowed, then he struck, leaping around he bonfire he tackled Ryan into the sand.

"Get off of him!" yelled Seth, leaping into action.

He tried to pull Luke off of Ryan, but to no avail.

With a roar of fury Zach launched himself at Seth, knocking him over.

With a strong right swing Zach's fist connected with the side of Seth's face. Meanwhile Luke was hitting every square inch of Ryan he could reach.

"Stop it! What in the hell are you two doing?!" came a female voice. It sounded both angry, and terrified.

All of a sudden Seth felt Zach's weight lift from his body, though it still felt as though he had been struck by a freight train, Seth looked around to see a crowd of people standing over them. In the distance he could make out both Summer and Marissa standing with Luke and Zach, both of whom were breathing heavily. Had it been one of them who had screamed out? Seth rolled over and slowly staggered to his feet. Ryan, a few feet away was also getting to his feet.

"So what do you think of Newport?" asked Ryan, sarcastically, as they pushed their way through the sea of watching eyes.

"To be honest, I think I can get in less trouble where I'm from." said Seth with a laugh that turned into a groan of pain.

"Please don't make me laugh." winced Ryan.

Back at the pool house Seth took off his suit jacket and cast it to the floor before collapsing onto the bed. Ryan busied himself with building a makeshift bed against the wall.

"You're not sleeping in your room?" asked Seth.

"And get caught by my mother?" asked Ryan as he laid his head down on a pillow.

"Look man, about earlier. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have tried to get you to go out to that party when you clearly didn't want to. Thank, though, you know. You totally had my back." said Seth as his head hit the pillow.

"See you in the morning—"

Ryan grunted form across the room.

* * *

In what seemed like no time at all, to Seth anyway, bright brilliant sunlight had filled the pool house and with a loud slam of the door, he was jolted awake.

"Thank God! Where in the hell have you been?" came the angry voice of Kirsten Cohen.

Ryan awoke with a start and rolled over to look up at his mother, a bruise blossoming above his eye.

"Have you been fighting?" she yelled.

Ryan did not answer.

"Up. Now!" demanded Kirsten as Ryan got wearily to his feet and was marched out of the pool house. Kirsten turned to glare at Seth as the door to the pool house slammed.

"What happened to you?" asked Sandy as the rest of the Cohen family entered the kitchen.

"Ryan got into another fight!" said Kirsten with her arms crossed.

Sandy looked from her to his son.

"Look it wasn't our fault. We were standing around out on the beach when a few of the guys from school started bullying Seth. What was I suppose to do?" asked Ryan turning to look at his mother.

Kirsten opened her mouth, paused then closed it.

"Look, be that as it may, we've talked about this before. No fights! Remember what almost happened last tim—" began Kirsten

"Yeah, I do. I'm sorry but I couldn't just stand there and do nothing while they picked on Seth." said Ryan, cutting his mother off.

"Standing up for the little guy, huh. Spoken like a true Cohen." said Sandy, taking sip of his morning coffee.

The backdoor opened and Seth walked in.

"Hey, I just wanted to say that what happened last night was not Ryan's fault. I was the one that dragged him out to that party in the first place. He didn't even wanna go. If you're going to yell at anyone it should be me. Ryan didn't start the fight." said Seth, his head downcast.

Sandy's starting to put two and two together.

"I think we can push this mess under the rug though I have to say, maybe you two should just hangout inside for the rest of the weekend. We can keep an eye on you both and your less likely to get in any trouble." said Sandy, looking over at his wife.

Kirsten said nothing.

"We'll have a quiet Sunday and then on Monday we can go down to Child Protective Services." said Sandy.

From his tone of voice Seth could tell that Sandy was probably looking forward to that trip almost as much as he was.

Seth's face seemed to deflate at the thought of leaving.

"You got it. Stay inside, and stay out of trouble. Monday I get to be part of the system." said Seth biting his lip and nodding.

"Hey, don't you worry. We'll get you through this kiddo. This weekend won't be the last you will see of us." said Sandy.

"Thanks. that means a lot, seriously it does." said Seth turning his attention to Kirsten.

"And thank you for allowing me to stay the weekend." he said.

Kirsten smiled as she sipped her coffee.

"If it's alright with you guys, I'm gonna go back to sleep." said Seth.

With a nod from both Sandy and Kirsten he waved at Ryan, and made his was slowly back towards the pool house.

:END:

Author's Notes:

Well, that is the end of chapter one. I've always wanted to write fan fiction for The OC and I though what better way to start than by putting Seth in Ryan's shoes. I got the idea from a fan fiction I had read back in 2008 and used bits and pieces to help sculpt my story. This Alternate Universe will follow the main story line of seasons one and two a little bit, although I will be adding my own spin on certain events. Expect to see many other characters from the show cast in a different light. I hope you enjoyed the start of my story and I would love it if you could leave a review!


	2. Chapter 2: The Previous Year

By: MaroonAgain

The Alternate Universe

Chapter Two: The Previous Year

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to The OC or the characters. Also, I will answer a few of the questions left in the reviews at the end of the story. Thanks and, enjoy!

* * *

The blazing sun had slowly started to dip beneath the clouds over the Pacific Ocean, casting a beautiful array of colors out over Newport Beach. As both Ryan and Seth had promised to behave themselves and keep to the house, seven o'clock found both boys lulling about in the pool.

"You know, I have to admit to myself," began Seth, who was drifting about on a large inflatable tube.

"This is not a bad way to spend a Sunday evening.

Ryan did not say anything. He merely nodded his agreement.

"Shame to be stuck at the house though on my last night, you know." said Seth, his brow furrowed.

"What do you mean?" asked Ryan as he floated past.

"I was just thinking that, if we were not confined to the house, we could always go get tattoos to camembert my time here. That, or, get this, we could just go pick up a couple of hookers and show them a nice time. That or get matching tattoos with them."

At these words Ryan actually burst out laughing.

"Well would you look at that!" smiled Seth.

"Actually, why don't we just hangout here. We can play some PlayStation after dinner or something." mused Ryan as his mother approached them from the patio.

"Dinner will be ready in about ten minutes. Out of the pool, and please get washed up." she said, turning on her heels and making her way back inside and into the kitchen.

Five minutes later found both Seth and Ryan standing in the kitchen as Kirsten busied herself with packing up a few things she had brought home from work.

"How was your swim?" she asked, looking over at Seth who was busying himself with looking through her work.

"It was great, actually. First time I've ever been in a salt water pool." said Seth.

"What's that?" he asked, pointing to a drawing.

Kirsten looks over at what the boy is looking at and raises her eyebrows.

"Oh, that is a drawing of a model home we are putting together. I build them." he said walking over to him and looking down at the illustration.

"I build the real ones." said Kirsten.

Seth nods.

"Wanna build me one while you're at it?" he asked, jokingly.

Kirsten pauses, giving Seth a confused look.

"Sorry. Bad joke." said Seth, following Ryan into the dining room where Sandy had already seated himself and was pouring himself a measurable glass of wine.

Seth and Ryan both took the two empty chair across from Sandy as Kirsten walked in and took a seat next to her husband.

"So, last supper." said Sandy, flashing a grin over at both Seth and Ryan before catching the glare from his wife next to him.

"Sorry. Bad joke."

Ryan smiled as Seth began to load his plate up with green beans and mashed potatoes.

"This all looks wonderful, Kirsten." said Seth as Sandy adds pork chops to his plate.

"Thanks, Sandy!" said Seth, hungrily, picking up the pork chops and tearing off a piece with his teeth.

"It sucks that you're leaving tomorrow, man. We never eat like this. It's usually take out a few times a week if mom gets stuck at the office." explained Ryan.

"That is not true." began Kirsten, turning her attention to Seth, who's mouth was packed with mashed potatoes.

She turns her attention back to her husband and only son before stating clearly, "I cook all the time."

At these words Ryan actually dropped his fork and spoon with a loud clatter. He looked over at his father for a response.

"Dad."

"I am very sorry sweetie." laughed Sandy.

All Kirsten could do was glare at her husband and son.

Seth merely watched the family before him interact with each other. He had to admit to himself that it was a wonderful change of pace. Nobody was yelling at him across the dinner table, or popping pain medication in the kitchen while he tried to microwave leftovers. Seth had never had a family like the one sitting before him. Before his brush with the law it had always just been him and his mother. Most of the time she wasn't even home. Either at work or out getting a fix. He smiled to himself before realizing that his time with the Cohen's was drawing to a close. All of a sudden he didn't feel remotely hungry anymore. The realization that he would be leaving tomorrow was crashing down around him.

"Hey, Seth."

Sandy's voice snapped him back to reality.

"Sorry, got lost in thought. What's up?" he asked, giving himself a shake of the head.

"We will need to go over your forms before we all turn in for the night. Don't worry, as your attorney I will co-sign all of the forms for you. They basically just state that you don't have any legal parent or guardian available." We will meet with your social worker in the morning and she will be the one to take you to the group home." explained Sandy, taking a sip from his wine glass.

"Ah, so I'm the property of the government. I simple cannot wait for that." said Seth who began stabbing moodily as his green beans.

"Hey, they do find foster homes for kids your age." said Sandy, though his tone suggested otherwise.

"Yeah, because everyone wants a new teenager these days." retorted Seth.

Everyone fell silent at these words.

Over her glass of wine, Kirsten looked guiltily out over the table. She got to her feet and made her way into the kitchen to uncork another bottle of wine.

Seth looks down on his half eaten pork shops. At Sandy's words it felt as though a lead weight had dropped down into his, Seth's, stomach. He got to his feet and after waving to Ryan and saying good night to Sandy he left the dining room. He met Kirsten in the kitchen as he disposed of the food on his plate in the trash and then proceeded to wash the dish and place it on the rack to dry.

Kirsten did not say anything.

Seth walked the full distance to the backdoor then turned to look at her.

"Look, I just wanted to say thanks, again, for everything you and your husband have done for me. I don't know what I would have done had Sandy not brought me along. I know I haven't been the best of house guests, what with the trouble I got myself and Ryan in. It really does mean a lot." said Seth in a genuine sort of voice.

Still, Kirsten said nothing.

Seth looked down at the drawings of the model home that are still cast out over the kitchen table.

"Good luck with the house. It looks perfect." said Seth with a weak smile.

"G-goodnight." said Kirsten, now feeling guiltier than ever.

* * *

Neil Roberts looked over at the clock on his desk. It was now reading 8:37 PM. He let out a low moan as he ran his hands through his greying hair. The past week had been a nightmare. He looked down at the documents on his desk. He had read through them three or four times already since he had opened them a few days prior. Each time he read them he would hope that the documents would read out differently. He picked up the documents again, looked down at them and then threw them back down on the table in apparent anger.

"Plastic surgery negligence." he said to himself.

It was suppose to be a routine procedure. A woman had come in for breast reduction surgery. Neil could only assume that she no longer wanted the implants that she has received when she was in her twenties. It was not the first time and he was sure it wouldn't be the last. Woman came into his office all the time with just that such problem. He had preformed procedures like this over a hundred times. But this, malpractice?

Neil got up from his office chair and walked over to a glass tumbler perched on a bookshelf. He poured himself a glass of scotch and took a gulp.

During the operation he had failed to consider the blood supply that would remain during the surgery. The result had been destruction and loss of both of he woman's breast due to lack of blood flow. The woman would now require total breast reconstruction and he, Neil, was being sued.

Neil collapsed back into his desk chair.

There was a sudden knock at the door.

"Yes?" he called in a horse voice.

"Hey, daddy. I'm all packed and ready." said Summer Roberts.

At first Neil did not know what his only daughter was talking about. Then it clicked.

"Ah yes! Heading over to the Fischer's, right?" he asked, trying to compose himself.

"Yeah, Holly's dad said we could use the beach house to celebrate my birthday a little early, remember?" exclaimed Summer, a touch of annoyance in her voice.

"Yes, yes, I remember. Well have fun sweetie." said Neil as he got to his feet and walked around to give her a kiss on the forehead.

* * *

Seth looked over at the clock on the bedside table.

"Nine o'clock, really?"

He rolled over in bed. He just couldn't fall asleep. The upcoming events seemed to be hanging over him like a heat haze, preventing him from seeing anything beyond. He always knew he wouldn't be able to stay with the Cohen's. Still, it had been a very wonderful weekend. Well, except for the ass kicking he had received at the hands of Luke and Zach, but he could gloss over those unpleasant details.

Seth kicked back the sheets and got to his feet, pulling on his jeans and socks as he did so. He just could not bare the thought of going to live in a group home. He would pack his bag, grab is skateboard and just disappear into the night. He knew the Cohen's would be upset at his sudden departure but he hoped they would understand in the long haul. Even though he knew nobody would hear him, he still did his best to close the door to the pool house as quietly as he could, only to turn around and walk headlong into Ryan.

"Dude you scared the sh- um, what are you doing?" asked Seth as he tried to hide his skateboard behind him.

"I should be asking you the same thing. Um, are you running away?" asked Ryan, sounding surprised.

"What, this? No. I was just planning on getting some night skating in. It worked out so well the night I got here." said Seth.

"Seth, you can't just run away. What are you thinking? What about child protective services, you know, or my dad?" asked Ryan.

"Yeah, because the group home life sounds so fitting." said Seth, sarcastically.

At Ryan's glare he changed tack.

"You got a better idea?"

Ryan paused for a brief moment before replying.

"Yeah, I do, actually. Meet me out front at the end of the driveway in about ten minutes." said Ryan.

Ryan ran back upstairs to his bedroom and began to pack items he felt would be necessary before changing into some a little more appropriate for sneaking around undetected. As he pulled a dark long sleeved shirt on over his head there was a sudden knock at the door.

"Ryan?"

Ryan could hear his dad knocking on the door to his bedroom and knew that he only had a couple of seconds before his father would give on up waiting for him to answer and enter anyway. Ryan hastily stuffed a few more items into his duffle bag before shoving it under his bed, turning out his desk lamp, and throwing the bed sheets over himself.

"Hey, can I talk to you?" asked Sandy, sleepy. He was already in his bath robe and slippers.

Sandy reached out and flicked on the bedroom light.

"Dad, is it morning?" said Ryan, shielding his eyes as though he had been sleeping.

"You're asleep?" asked Sandy, flabbergasted.

"Well, you know, early morning tomorrow. I want to be well rested so I can say goodbye to Seth in the morning." said Ryan.

"Since when do you use sarcasm?"

"I don't." said Ryan, his eyebrows raised.

"Oh, sorry. Seth does and it makes it very hard to tell the difference sometimes. Can't you just talk to me? I know you're upset. Your mother and I are upset, you know." explained Sandy.

"Dad it's okay, I understand." said Ryan before rolling over and pulling the bed covers up over his head, pretending to fall back asleep.

"Well, I am here if you ever want to talk." said Sandy as he turned the light back off and closed the bedroom door behind him.

The second the door clicked shut Ryan kicked back the sheets and walked over to his bedroom window.

Ryan dropped down into the bushes and after making sure that the coast was clear made his way down the driveway towards the cul-da-sac.

"Seth?" he whispered.

No reply.

"Seth!" he said in a slightly louder tone.

"Dude, I am right behind you!" came a voice from a clump of bushes.

Seth emerged wearing a jet black turtleneck and dark jeans.

"What in the hell are you wearing? It's August for crying out loud!" asked Ryan perplexed.

"Dude, I was going for stealth. and also, it's slimming." said Seth, rolling his eyes.

None of them noticed a tall, thin, brown haired girl walking down the driveway adjacent to theirs.

"Okay, I got it. I'll be there in like thirty minutes."

Both Ryan and Seth spin around to see Marissa Copper walking up to her car.

She stopped head in her tracks at the sight of both Ryan, and Seth.

"Hey." said Seth.

"Hey." said Marissa in a startled voice.

Seth merely waved.

"Didn't think I would be seeing you again." said Marissa to Seth.

"Well, after the way your boyfriend and his cronies treated me last night I can understand why." said Seth.

"Yeah, well he's not usually like that." said Marissa.

Ryan snorted.

Marissa glared at him.

"You're one to talk, Cohen." she said, her lips thinning.

There was silence for a brief moment before Marissa spoke.

"What are the two of you doing out this late?" she asked.

"Maybe I should be asking you the same thing." said Marissa.

"Dude, we cannot tell her anything." Seth whispered into Ryan's ear.

"You're running away." said Marissa. It was a comment, not a question.

"What gave you that idea?" asked Seth before realizing that his attire had blown his cover.

"We really should be going." chipped in Ryan, more to Seth than Marissa.

Ryan turned to look at Marissa.

"We don't want to keep you. The Newport social scene awaits." said Ryan.

"Oh, yeah?" said Marissa, one eyebrow cocked.

Ten minutes later found Seth, Ryan, and Marissa speeding down the highway.

"So, you mind telling me where we are going, Cohen?" she asked.

"We're going to one of my mother's housing developments. It's built, for the most part. The company the contracted to finish it for the open house just disappeared so it's empty." said Ryan.

"Is that the same development as the model home drawings your mom had in the kitchen?" asked Seth from the backseat.

Ryan nodded.

The trio rode in silence for awhile before Seth spoke.

"What kind of music are we listening to?" he asked.

"It's Journey. Ryan got me to listen — what do you have against Journey?" said Marissa, turning slightly pink.

Seth looks from Ryan to Marissa.

"Ryan, you like Journey? That is kinda minty, don't you think?" asked Seth with a laugh.

"Do not insult Journey." said Ryan turning back to face Seth.

Deciding to broker a little peace between both boys Marissa looks at Seth through the rear view mirror and asks, "So, what kind of music do you listen to, Seth?"

"Oh you know, a bit of The Ramones, The Clash, Sex Pistols. I do listen to some new age stuff too though. Death Cab, The Shins, and Bright Eyes, just to name a few.

"Are those bands?" asks Ryan.

"Sacrilege!"

"Hey, I like a few of them. I'm into the whole punk rock thing right now." said Marissa. At Seth's incredulous look she replies, "What? I'm angry."

This is it here." said Ryan pointing off to the left. Marissa pulled up to a large mansion, somewhat similar in size to the Cohen's house. There were construction equipment littered about the place, and the grass had not yet been laid. The empty house had a kinda of neglect about the place.

"Dude, it looks dark in there. Did anyone bring a flashlight?" asked Seth as he climbed out of the vehicle and closed the door.

Ryan rummaged around in his duffle bag and pulled out two flashlights, tossing one of them to Seth.

"Like I said, the place has been empty for awhile so we should be able to keep you here." said Ryan as he pushed the front doors open.

* * *

"How do contractors just disappear?" yelled Kirsten Cohen.

She had been on her cellphone for the past twenty minutes.

"If we don't have a model home, we don't have a new development. It has been over a month, I am not waiting for you guys anymore." said Kirsten, angrily hanging up the phone as her husband walked into the kitchen.

"No luck with the contractors, I take it?" asked Sandy, planting a kiss on his wife's cheek.

"Vanished. My father's never going to let me hear the end of it, mark my words. Did you — did you talk to Ryan?" she asked, her tone of voice now more motherly.

"Yeah, I think so. Don't blame yourself."

"I am not blaming myself!" complained Kirsten, firing up again. "How can I allow a strange boy to live in this house? Ryan needs to understand that it is what any mother would do!"

"Honey, I was talking about the contractors." said Sandy with a smile.

Reluctantly, Kirsten smiled back.

* * *

"So you expect Seth to stay here?" asked Marisa skeptically, looking around the place.

"I have to say it's a much better place than some group home." said Seth as he began to walk around the place while Ryan and Marissa awkwardly stood by the front door.

"So what happened with the contractors?" asked Marissa.

"Who knows. All my mother said is that they had to put the development on hiatus until they could either find them or hire new ones. I figured this place would work out until we make further plans." explained Ryan.

"Hey, you guys! Come check this out!" yelled Seth from the backyard.

Both Ryan and Marissa hurried to catch up to him.

"This is amazing!" said Seth, his face shining with glee.

He was standing in the middle of the empty pool.

"What are you so excited about? It's just an empty pool." said Marissa, unimpressed.

At her words Seth flashed a toothy grin her way.

"To some people, Cooper. To those who look outside the box, it is so much more."

Seth grabbed his skateboard and dropped into the pool. Both Ryan and Marissa watched him for a moment before Marissa pulled three bags of fast food burgers out of her large purse. She handed one to Ryan, who accepted with the a smile and a nod, and took one for herself, leaving Seth's to the side. For a few moments they ate in silence. The only noise, that of Seth's skateboard wheels carving up the inside of the pool.

"So, what is the deal with the two of you?" he asked as he sped by.

"Deal, what deal?" asked Marissa, looking confused.

"Look, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to deduce that there is something between the two of you. Some checkered past." said Seth, coming to a halt and taking a seat next to Marissa. He reached into the remaining bag and pulled out a burger and some fries and began to eat.

Marissa looked over at Ryan.

"I take it you told him everything, didn't you?" she said in an offended tone of voice.

"Actually —"

"Actually, Ryan did not tell me anything. It's just the kinda vibe I get from the two of you. I asked him about something that I can only assume involves you and maybe a few of your friends, but he refused to tell me." said Seth, dipping his fries in some ketchup before transferring them to his mouth.

"Look, if you must know, Marissa and I use to date awhile back." began Ryan.

"Yeah, I pretty much figured that out for myself." said Seth.

"Her father got into a bit of legal trouble last year. Something that they are still dealing with at the moment but it put a lot of strain on our relationship."

"So did you guy's break up or something?" asked Seth.

"We went on a break." said Marissa is a quiet voice.

Ryan did not speak for a few moments so Marissa continued.

"Ryan saw Luke leaving my parents place late one night about a week after we —"

"Broke up." interjected Ryan.

"We did not break up. Well not then anyway." said Marissa coldly.

"He saw Luke leaving one night and assumed that he had been spending some alone time with me." said Marissa.

"Alone time? Oh." said Seth finally catching on.

"Luke had just stopped by to let my mom know that he would be taking her car into the shop to have it looked at. Luke's father owns several dealerships in Newport. Ryan was waiting out in the drive way and misread the hug I had given Luke to mean something a little more than it actually did." she said.

"Man, and I thought my life had drama in it. I am pretty sure I can tell what happened next." said Seth.

"The cops arrived, it got messy. Thankfully, my father being who he is, I was able to skate by." said Ryan, crumbling up the remains of his burger and throwing them into a bin by the back door.

"Yeah, I can only assume that an assault charge with not look good on your record." said Seth.

All of a sudden Marissa's cell phone starts to ring causing all three teens to jump. She scoops her phone up from the depths of her purse and answers it.

"Hello?"

"Where you at girl? It's time for you to get your buzz on. You know it's not a very fun party without you here."

They could hear Luke's voice through the phone.

Ryan busied himself with finishing off his soda as loudly as possible.

"What's the deal, you were suppose to be here an hour ago."

"Sorry, something came up while I was at home. I'll be there soon." said Marissa.

"I love you." came Likes voice again.

Marissa's face turned scarlet as she caught the looks on both Seth's and Ryan's face.

"Love you too." she said in an embarrassed sort of voice.

Marissa throws one of her fries at Seth to stop him from laughing. It hits him in the face.

"I should go. I need to meet up with my friends — my other friends." she says as she gets to her feet.

"Yeah, I should probably go with you and protect my cover. You have to promise not to tell anyone about this place, okay. Not Summer, or anyone else when you get to Holly's." explained Ryan.

"I won't, I promise. I can keep a secret." said Marissa

"Alright, I suppose I will just see you tomorrow then?" asked Seth looking over at Ryan.

"Yes."

Both boys eyes turned to Marissa.

"What? I want to help." she replied.

* * *

Seth awoke the next morning and stretched. A sleeping bad on the hard floor was not as comfortable as he would have liked but, on the upside, he wasn't being shipped off to group home.

"Hey you awake?" came a voice from downstairs.

"Yeah, I'm upstairs." called Seth.

Both Ryan and Marissa entered the unfinished bedroom.

"We come bearing supplies." said Marissa cheerfully.

"So bad news, man. My mom called the cops this morning when you didn't turn up for breakfast. Not to mention I overheard her talking on the phone on my way out. It looks like they have hired some new contractors. They start in four days." said Ryan, sadly.

"Great. Now I am officially on the run. What a wonderful way to start the day. What did you tell them?" asked Seth sounding worried.

"Not much. I think my parents are use to me not saying much these days." explained Ryan with a shrug.

"Did you bring anything with you guys?" asked Seth.

Marissa pulls out a loofa and some lotion.

Seth looked down at her dumbfounded.

"I meant like survival gear such as rope, or muskets." said Seth.

At these words Marissa rolls her eyes.

"Did you at least pack some food?" asked Seth, massaging his stomach.

Both Marissa and Ryan look at each other with a guilty laugh.

"Looks like we are on a mission." said Seth as he left the bedroom and began his way downstairs.

Both Marissa and Ryan followed him down the stairs and out of the house.

* * *

After a lengthily time spent in the diner bathroom, Seth slid into the corner booth followed shortly by Marissa and Ryan.

"I feel so much better now, and I haven't even eaten yet!" exclaimed Seth, jovially.

"Gross." said Marissa as she looked through the diner menu.

"So what are we going to do?" asked Ryan once the waitress had stopped by and placed their order.

"Look, you've done more than enough for me already. I've always wanted to do the pancake tour of North America. Plus, the hobo thing seems to be making a comeback, again. I am sure I can find odd work here and there to get by." said Seth.

"Well, then if its a bus ticket or something that you need, I am sure I can pool some money together for you." said Ryan.

"Dude, come on. I cannot ask you to do that. I already feel bad having you buy my lunch today." said Seth.

"Look man, you get to start fresh somewhere new, where nobody even knows you. To be honest that's not all that bad." said Ryan.

Marissa gave him a disappointed look that he did not notice.

"Shame I won't get to see Summer again. Sad to think that the last thing she will remember of me is me getting my ass kicked by Zach." moaned Seth.

"They usually don't act like that. They can just be a bit —" began Marissa.

"A bunch of privileged assholes?" asked Ryan in a hard voice.

Marissa looked down at her half eaten plate of eggs and toast.

"I was going to say protective." she said softly.

"Yeah, if you say so." said Seth.

Marissa glared at him.

"I don't even get what Zach's deal was in the first place. He and Summer are not together. She can talk to whoever she wants to." said Seth heatedly.

"Look, Summer and Zach had been dating since, like the fifth grade. People change over time, but feelings linger —" Marissa broke off and her eyes turned towards Ryan.

"Okay, okay, let's not make this thing between you and Ryan anymore awkward." interjected Seth.

The door of the diner chimed as four boys entered, Luke, closely followed by Zach, Chip and, Norland. All four boys were laughing at a joke Zach had just told. It must have been quite amusing because the rest of the boys were roaring with laughter.

"Hey why do you think it takes to get a menu around here?" one of them called out.

"Sneak out the back, okay. I will distract them." said Marissa at once getting up and walking the long way around the diner towards Luke and Zach.

"Good idea." said Seth, grabbing his skateboard and getting quickly to his feet.

Ryan threw some cash down on the table as both boys made their way towards the back door.

"Hey!" yelled a large woman from the kitchen.

"Front door!" she ordered pointing her finger back down the hallway.

Both boys locked eyes then, having no other alternative they slowly made their way back up to the front of the restaurant.

"So what have the four of you been up to?" asked Marissa, who was now doing her best to keep all four boys faces turned to her.

"Oh you know, just been getting stuff ready for another party over at Holly's beach house." said Luke with a wink at both Chip and Norland.

Both boys snickered.

"What, the party we had last night wasn't good enough." said Marissa.

"Well, seeing as you were over an hour late." said Zach.

"Well would you look who still has yet to hit the road." said Luke as he spotted both Ryan and Seth.

"Oh look my fan club." said Seth.

"Think you're being funny do you?" asked Zach getting to his feet.

"Zach, stop!" demanded Marissa.

"What are you, like spokesperson for queers of America, or something?" he asked.

The other three boys laugh

"Yeah, well at least I don't shave my chest." said Seth, more to himself than to the group at large.

"Think you're being funny do you?" asked Zach in a menacing voice.

Luke got to his feet.

"Do you want us to break you kid?" he asked.

"Luke, seriously."

"I think it's best that you both leave." began Zach.

Other people in the restaurant were all staring. Ryan knew that the boys were not fool enough to try anything with so many watching eyes. That was not how they operated.

"And if I see you trying to make anymore passes at my girlfriend, I will break you in half myself, dork." said Zach as Ryan grabbed ahold of Seth's jacket and pulled him out of the restaurant.

* * *

The rest of the afternoon, for Marissa anyway, was spent entirely in the company of Luke and Zach. While Summer did join up while they were on their way to Holly's, Marissa had to admit that it had not been all that fun. Marissa filled Summer in on seeing Seth again, accidentally letting his known whereabouts slip out.

"You have to promise not to tell anyone, okay!" she stammered as Luke pulled up into the driveway of Holly's beach house.

"You got it Coop." said Summer placing her fingers to her lips.

"I was kinda hoping to see him before he left, you know. He's cute, in his own loser-ish kind of way." she said with a giggle.

"What have you two been talking about?" asked Zach.

"Oh you know, girl stuff." said Marissa.

* * *

"You know, I really thought you were going to punch him." chortled Seth, who was busying himself in a lawn chair playing on Ryan's GameBoy.

"Yeah, well I thought it would be smart not to draw attention to us, you know." said Ryan who had just finished setting up a tent for Seth.

"Thanks man, that looks great. It's a shame I will only be able to use it for a couple more days." said Seth.

"Take it with you."

"I couldn't do that man, it's your tent." said Seth.

"Do I look like the camping type?" asked Ryan.

"Point taken." replied Seth.

* * *

"So, what's up?" asked Zach.

Both he and Summer were standing alone in the kitchen. It was now a few hours into the party. Chip was already passed out on the couch with both Luke and Norland standing over him drawing crude drawings onto his face. Marissa had already passed out in one of the upstairs bedrooms.

"You've been kinda weird ever since you and Marissa spent all that time in the back of Luke's truck gossiping to each other. Everything alright?" he asked kindly.

"I don't know." said Summer.

Zach frowned.

"Do you ever wonder what your life looks like through someone else's eyes?"

This sentence seemed to be too much for Zach to comprehend.

"See this is what I am talking about." he said.

"Fresh margs!" called Holly, prancing over to the kitchen island in a red two piece bathing suit.

Both Luke and Norland got up from the couch and made their way over to where everyone else was standing.

"I say we find that punk son-of-a-bitch and burn his trailer park to the ground." said Norland.

"Who?" asked Holly, as she passed two glasses to Luke and Norland.

"That little bitch from Moreno Valley?" asked Zach.

"I heard the kid is a total psycho. I heard he got caught will high on OxyContin." said Holly.

"Look, he's just a stupid, punk bitch. If I see him or that loser, Cohen around, I am going to beat both of their asses." said Zach, with nods from Luke and Chip.

"Run his ass out of Newport for sure!" yelled Chip.

"I gotta go." said Summer at once.

"Hey, wait up? Where are you going babe?" asked Zach, as he reached out to grab Summer's arm.

"You don't know him. You don't know anything about him!" she yelled, wrenching her arm free of Zach's and storming out the front door leaving a stunned Zach and Luke.

* * *

"That should do the trick." said Seth to himself as he finished lighting the candles Marissa had brought earlier in the day.

He had to admit it to himself that they added a nice touch to the room. At least now he did not have to strictly reply on the flashlight that Ryan had left him.

"Hello?" came a female voice from downstairs.

Seth poked his head out of the tent.

It couldn't be who he thought it was. How could she have found out?

"Seth?" the voice called again.

"Summer, is that you?"

"Were you expecting someone else?" she asked sounding annoyed, standing in the doorway.

"What are you doing here? How did you find out where I was — Marissa told you didn't she?" he asked.

"Look, don't be upset with her alright. She mentioned that you would be leaving for good soon and I just had to see you before you left." said Summer.

"You wanted to see me?" asked Seth sounding a little confused.

"Look, I don't know what it is about you but, I had to see you before you left for good. I had to say goodbye." said Summer softly.

Seth gulped.

"Maybe I could stay the night — just to hangout, that is." she asked innocently.

"Stay the night? I don't think that would be a good idea. If you stayed the night, I don't know if I could leave." said Seth.

It felt as though there was a lump in his throat.

Summer had started to draw closer to him and yet he soon rooted to the spot. He was paralyzed. He did not know what to do having never been in a situation like this before.

"So don't leave." said Summer in what sounded like a pleading voice.

"And I'll do what, Summer? Hide out here like some ghost, while you go back to school in the fall? The cops find me and I have to disappear again? Girl's like you don't end up with guys like me, Summer. We're from two very different worlds. This would never work out." said Seth harshly.

He didn't want to say it, but he knew he would only hurt her more by having her stay the night.

"That's not true." said Summer as her eyes started to well up with tears.

"Go, please." said Seth turning his back on her.

Her footsteps faded and died as she descended the stairs and ran out the front door.

How could she have been so stupid, Summer thought to herself as she ran towards her vehicle and climbed in. She wiped away tears as she started up her car and backed out of the unfinished driveway. In her hurry to get to her car she failed to notice a large black pickup truck parked behind some of the construction equipment that had been left behind. Inside were four boys.

"What do you think she was doing?" asked Norland from the back seat.

"Who knows. Just shut up for a minute!" demanded Luke glancing over at Zach who was stony faced.

"Look!" said Norland, pointing a finger.

A figure had charged out of the model home.

Even by the light of the moon above, all three boys could tell who it was that had chased Summer out of the model home.

"That son-of-a-bitch." said Zach angrily as they watched Seth hang his head and walk back inside.

It was as Seth walked into the bedroom he had been occupying for the past day that he heard a noise from downstairs.

"Ryan? I'm upstairs!" he called out as he unrolled his sleeping bag for the night.

No reply.

"Did you get the bus ticket?"

"Bus ticket? What bus ticket? I'm afraid you wont be going anywhere anytime soon." said a very familiar, unfriendly voice from the doorway.

Seth's heart seemed to skip a beat. He froze, got to his feet slowly and turned around to see the last two people on earth that would would want to be alone in a room with.

"How did you guys find me?" Seth whimpered.

There was nobody else around to protect him. Ryan was not here to have his back this time.

"What do you think you were doing with my girlfriend?" asked Zach in a threatening tone.

"I didn't do anything, man." stammered Seth backing away into the corner of the room.

Seth had no time to react as Zach lunged forward shoving Seth up against the wall where he collided with several buckets of paint. They fell to the floor with a crash sending paint everywhere including onto one of the lit candles. All of a sudden the room is full of bright light caused by the cascade of of fire that engulfs half of the bedroom wall. Zach grabs ahold of Seth and throws him onto the other side of the room where Luke rugby tackles him to the floor.

"Dude, we gotta go! This place is on fire!" yelled Luke.

Black smoke was filling the room.

Luke pulled his shirt up over his mouth and began to drag Zach off of Seth who looked to be unconscious.

"Come on! Let's go, man! Run!" yelled Luke as he shoved and pushed Zach out of the room.

They were at the staircase when Luke turned back to look into the bedroom. Seth still lay on the ground unmoving as the firelight danced sinisterly behind him. Luke paused for a moment. Hesitation flooding through his body. Zach had already bolted down the stairs and vanished out the front door.

"Damn it!" Luke yelled to himself as he ran back into the burning room and grabbed Seth, throwing him over his shoulder.

By the time he made it downstairs fire and smoke had completely filled the second story. As Luke ran outside of the burning building he saw his black pickup truck pull around the side. Luke threw Seth off him where he landed in a heap and ran towards the truck, jumping into the bed as it sped away.

"That kid looked pretty messed up, man." said Norland, as Luke climbed into the back seat.

"Was he breathing?" asked Zach who now sounded somewhat worried.

"Yeah, pretty sure." said Luke breathing heavy.

"Look we keep our mouths shut. They may never know it was us. That kid's already got a track record against him. Cops might just think it was him." said Zach as both he and Norland got out of the truck.

"Where are you going?" he asked as Luke hopped in the front seat.

"Nowhere, I'll be back shortly." said Luke who quickly sped away before either of the other two boys could reply back.

* * *

"Wait, what? What do you mean it burned down!" yelled Kirsten.

Both her and her husband were standing outside in their driveway talking to the police who had just pulled up.

"From the information we got from the fire department it appears as though someone had been living in there." said one of the officers.

"Living in it?" exploded Kirsten.

"It's my fault." said Ryan, but at that moment Luke's pickup truck pulled up into the driveway.

All eyes were on the two boys that climbed out of the truck.

"Actually, it's my fault." said Seth in an ashamed voice. He certainly looked the worse for wear. He was sporting a brilliantly black and blue eye and smelled strongly of smoke.

He couldn't bare to meet Kirsten's or Sandy's eyes.

"Well then we have a few questions for you then." said a second officer who quickly placed Seth in handcuffs.

At once, Sandy stepped forward.

"Sir, I am Mr. Schnaittacher's attorney. Please do not ask him any questions unless I am present." said Sandy in a business like voice.

"It was an accident." blurted out Luke, who was looking very uncomfortable.

"You were there too?" asked the first officer.

"Yeah." replied Luke.

"Well, then it looks like we will have some questions for you too." said the second officer.

The first officer passed him a pair of handcuffs which the second officer put on Luke before placing him in the squad car along with Seth.

"You two keep your mouth shut until I get there, you hear me." said Sandy as the officers closed the squad car doors and, slowly backed out of the driveway.

:END:

Author's Notes:

I hope you will all be pleased with the subtle changes that I made to this chapter. Thought we would take a different approach to who's family would start to fall apart. The Cooper family will still be dealing with Jimmy's past misdeeds, I just felt that for this chapter, I needed to explain why Neil had been crying in the bathroom. Also, to answer a questions that was asked, Taylor will not be making an appearance as of yet. Marissa's little sister might here and there but as she is around eleven or twelve I do not really see a point in including her. I managed to get this chapter done in a hurry since it was my day off. Chapter three could take a little bit to get finished since I will be very busy with work this coming week. I am sure I have spotted most of the spelling and grammar mistakes that popped up while writing this chapter. I will go over it once more tomorrow just to be sure. As always I would love to hear what you thought so please leave a review.


	3. Chapter 3: The Document

By: MaroonAgain

The Alternate Universe

Chapter Three: The Document

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to The OC, or the characters.

* * *

"We've got to stop meeting like this, kiddo." said Sandy Cohen in a stern voice.

He took a seat at one of the many tables reserved for visiting legal representatives and family. He set down his attache case and pulled out a folder containing the newest charges against his client who was sitting directly across from him.

"What, you mean to tell me the blue jumpsuit isn't a good look for me? And here I thought I was getting adjusted to it. How unfortunate." said Seth Schnaittacher.

"Some good news, though." began Sandy who chose to ignore Seth's wise crack.

"Let's hear it, Sandman."

"Kirsten's company has dropped all arson charges, which means, pending your probation hearing, I can have you out of here, no problem." said Sandy.

"Well, when is the hearing?" asked Seth sounding hopeful.

Sandy let out a sigh.

"Thirty to sixty days."

Seth's face seemed to deflate.

"I could have you out sooner, if I could release you into the care of a parent or guardian. Look it's going to be okay, I promise." said Sandy at the miserable look on Seth's pale face.

Seth let out a hollow laugh.

"Going to be alright? My mother ditched me, I burned down your wife's house, how is this going to be okay?" asked Seth.

"If you had just come to me sooner, instead of running away we might not be in this situation." explained Sandy.

Seth did his best to turn is snort into a cough.

"Yeah, so I could end up in foster care or some group home?"

"You could have been killed in that fire. Did you ever stop to think about that?" asked Sandy sternly.

Seth did not immediately reply. There was a buzzing noise and Seth looked through one of the windows to see Luke embracing his mother.

"He gets to leave?" asked Seth tunelessly.

Sandy turned to see Luke who at that moment had glanced over his shoulder to look at Seth.

"Well according to both of you, the fire was an accident. And while you made it clear that Luke had not been acting alone, there is no evidence to back up your story that Zach Stevens had been there. Police checked in with his alibi. There were multiple people, including his parents who said that he had been at Holly Fischer's house around the time that the fire occurred." said Sandy.

"Must be nice to be able to get away with going to jail." said Seth morosely.

"Luke's record is clean and, he has no priors."

"And someone to go home to." said Seth sourly.

"Seth, you know that if I could —" began Sandy.

Sandy changed tack.

"Look, we are going to find your mother, okay."

"You won't find her so don't bother wasting your time. Besides, I don't want to find her anyway. Look, you and your family have already done more than I could have ever asked for. I appreciate everything, really, I do." said Seth getting up from the table.

"Tell your wife I said thank you for dropping the charges. And tell Ryan —" Seth paused for a moment, thinking hard.

"Tell him I said thanks, for everything." said Seth as he walked back towards the cell block.

As he made his way in the direction of his cell Seth accidentally bumped into a fellow inmate.

"My bad, bro. I totally dig the prison tattoos. You'll have to tell me where I can sign up to get a few." said Seth, jokingly.

"What the hell did you just say me to?" replied the other inmate aggressively.

"Sorry man, it was just a little joke." said Seth nervously.

The other inmate shoved Seth hard against the bars.

"You're not sorry now, but you will be soon enough." said the inmate before being pushed along by a passing guard.

Seth locked eyes with Sandy for a brief moment before he too was pushed along by a security guard.

* * *

"I'm coming, will you just hold on a minute!" yelled Summer Roberts as she marched down stairs wearing sweat pants and a bright pink tank top.

 _Knock, Knock, Knock_

"I said I am coming. It's, like, nine o'clock in the freaking morning so you better have a damn good — Zach?" she stammered as she opened the front door.

"Look, I know it's early but, I just wanted to come see you. I thought maybe we could go out for some lunch or something. You know, just the two of us." exclaimed Zach, as he flashed a bright white toothy smile in her direction before bending down and kissing her on the forehead. Summer, who was still slightly shocked to see Zach standing on her doorstep did not protest to the kiss.

"Right, and what all did you have in mind?" she asked in a skeptical voice.

"Look, I get it. You're still upset with me for what happened between me and that Seth kid at Holly's beach house after the fashion show."

Summer crossed her arms.

"It was stupid and childish of me to behave in such a way. Look, Marissa forgave Luke and gave him a second chance. I'm here to ask for mine — if you feel that I deserve one." said Zach, reaching out to take hold of Summer's hands.

"Yeah, and look what Luke did anyway. He went and got himself locked up. And you're here telling me you had nothing to do with that house fire?" Summer asked shrewdly.

"I've already told you when you left I stayed behind at the beach house with Holly. If you do not believe me why don't you just give her a call. If you want the details about whatever altercation took place up in that house you're going to have to ask Luke, or Norland." said Zach.

Summer looked up into Zach's face.

"Alright, you can come in. I just need to get ready. So, where is it that you will be taking me?" she asked as she ascended the stairs to her bedroom.

"Well my mother left me her car and the family credit card. I was thinking possibly hitting up The Yacht Club. After that I could take you to the mall or something." said Zach with a wicked grin that only he could see.

He knew that he had said the right words. Summer Robert's loved shopping. It was almost too easy to manipulate her like this.

"I'll just wait down here, shall I?" asked Zach, as he milled around the first floor.

"Yeah, just give me like, ten minutes." yelled Summer from her bedroom.

Zach walked down the empty hallway and a door off to his right caught his eye. Neil Robert's study. His heart began to pound in his chest as he wondered what lay inside. Turning his head to see if Summer was coming back downstairs he wiggled the door handle with his right hand.

"Bingo!" he whispered to himself as the door clicked open.

The lights were off but there was ample amount of sunlight pouring through the bay window behind the large oak desk that dominated the room. It looked as though Mr. Roberts had been in the study recently. Zach noticed an empty glass sitting on the desk and a few documents spread out across the desk.

"I wonder what we have here?" he said to himself.

Zach hurried around the side of the desk and picked up one of the documents. He read through it at top speed, his eyes growing wider and wider as he read down the legal document. He could not believe what he was reading.

"Zach?" came Summer's voice from far off.

"Crap." said Zach to himself.

He quickly pulled out his cellphone and took a picture of the documents.

"Yeah, one second!" yelled Zach.

He hastily threw the documents back onto the desk and ran out of the study, making sure to close the door behind him.

"Where did you run off to?" asked Summer, who had spotted Zach walking back into the living room from the hallway.

"Huh, oh sorry, I had to use the bathroom. You know what they say, right. When you gotta go, you gotta go." he said with a chuckle.

"Um, ew." said Summer.

"Sorry. Are you ready to go?" asked Zach, reaching out an arm to interlock with Summer's.

* * *

The ceiling fan had been spinning for the past hour and, yet, still Ryan lay in bed staring up at it as though he had never seen anything like it before. He had woken up early specifically to see if he could tag along with his father to visit Seth in jail but the only response he had received from his business clad father was that he should be lucky to only consider himself grounded to the house and that he, Sandy, was doing everything he could for Seth. Ryan could see the lie in his fathers eyes as he walked out the front door; briefcase in toe. Seth could no more handle himself in jail than he, Ryan, had a shot at becoming a motivational speaker. Some people were just born with survival instincts and Seth was not one of them.

It had been a very rough day dealing with paperwork and talking to Seth about keeping things cool and in check but Sandy had finally made his way back home. He made his way into the kitchen to find his wife, Kirsten fussing over last night things for her get together with the other ladies of Newport.

"All we need right now are the Bellinis. Can you please make mine a double?" she asked to Rosa, one of the help.

Rosa flashed a warm smile and nodded to Kirsten.

"Well, it looks like you are all set for your Newpsie convention. Hey, when do the vultures land on casa he Cohen?" asked Sandy with a dry chuckle.

Kirsten was not amused.

"Soon." she said without even so much as a smirk at Sandy's joke.

"I am sure there is something out of place in this house." said Kirsten in a worried voice.

"Good for you darling, gives those women something to talk about while they are here. To be honest I cannot see why you want to have them over in the first place seeing as you hate the lot of them." said Sandy as he poured himself a large cup of coffee.

"Do we have any beagles left?"

Kirsten pointed to the pantry.

Kirsten frowned at him.

"I don't, don't like them, Sandy. I grew up with these woman. They are some of my oldest friends. Besides, it's for charity." explained Kirsten as though this alone settled the matter entirely.

"Sweetie, you have had so many different events over this past summer that I have already lost track of what we are up to now. What is it that you will be dragging me long too?" asked Sandy who was now spreading cream cheese across his beagle.

"It's Vegas Night." said Kirsten.

"Well, as always, i simply cannot wait!" said Sandy as their only son made his way into the kitchen.

"Hey, whatcha doing?' asked Sandy, raising his glass of coffee as though to toast his son.

"I am not doing anything, seeing as I am grounded." said Ryan broodily.

"Well, you're handling it well." said Sandy as Ryan beginning to eat his cereal right from the box.

"Can I at least go see him?" asked Ryan.

"Seth? No, there is nothing I can do for him right now." said Sandy.

Ryan paused with the box full of corn flakes halfway to his mouth.

"Do you think that he is okay?" asked Ryan.

"Well, there is a reason I like to keep kids out of there, you know!" said Sandy, taking another sip of his coffee.

"Yeah, well, if anything happens to him while he is in there I guess it can fall on you so i just hope you can live with it." said Ryan coldly to his parents.

"What I would not be able to live with is if something happened to you because of him." retorted Kirsten.

"Like what?" asked Ryan.

"Ryan, we are not his parents! I am not his mother!" yelled Kirsten.

Ryan looked at his mother then set down the box of corn flakes.

"Good thing." he said, getting to his feet and walking out of the kitchen.

"Hey!" yelled is father as the doorbell rang.

"Get back here! Apologize!" yelled Sandy as Ryan turned his back on his mother and father and left the kitchen.

Sandy had followed his son all the way to the foot of the stairs when the doorbell rang, catching him slightly off guard. He paused for a moment before decided to deal with Ryan later on in the day. Sandy walked up to the front door and opened it to see a large group of woman. They all smiled and waved to him as they walked across the threshold. Last to walk in was Julie who stopped to give Sandy a hug.

"Hello, Stanford. How are you holding up? That poor boy. He's locked up right." she asked, kissing him on the cheek.

"Yeah, for now." said Sandy.

"Well, nobody blames you for bring him into the community, you're so trusting, Sandy." said Julie with a smile before walking down to meet up with the rest of the girls.

"Well ladies I am off to find the next kid to terrorize the community. Maybe a muslim kid, or a black kid." said Sandy with a chuckle as he looked down at the shocked faces of the women. From the back he could see his wife giving him a don't-joke-about-stuff-like-that kind of look and he quickly closed the front door behind him.

Ryan lay fully clothed on his bed, looking up at the ceiling fan. He had tried to talk to his father first thing in the morning into letting him tag along to see Seth. The response he had received was that he was lucky only to have been grounded and that he, Sandy, was doing everything he could for the boy. Ryan could see the lie in his fathers eyes. He knew that Seth was not cut out to survive places like that. He felt so helpless sitting around in his room pretending to be a good boy while the grownups settled everything.

Ryan scowled.

It was then that he decided to act.

Ryan quickly got to his feet and walked over to his desk, scooping up his keys and jacket and hurrying out of his bedroom, closing the door behind him. He could hear the voices of Julie and the rest of the women in the living room. He made his way through the kitchen, intending to use the patio as his exit when a voice ran out behind him making him jump.

"Where do you think you are going?"

It was his mother. She was sitting at the patio table smoking a cigarette.

"Since when do you smoke?" asked Ryan.

"Do not change the subject. Where do you think you are going?" his mother asked more forcefully.

"Nowhere."

"Ryan." she said in a warning voice.

Ryan sighed.

"I'm going to juvie to visit Seth."

"No, no you're not. No way!" yelled Kirsten.

Ryan stood rooted to the spot for a brief moment before waving to his mother and making his way around the side of the house.

"Ryan, stop this right now!" said Kirsten getting to her feet and following her son.

"Ryan, I know I am not the perfect Carol Brady mother but, I love you and, I am trying to protect. I have dropped all charges against Seth and, I have hired someone to try and find his mother. What else would you like me to do?"

"Come with me?" asked Ryan.

"Kirsten?" came a voice from the back door.

Both Ryan and his mother turn around to see Julie Cooper.

"Oh, there you are. We were talking about the bunting, is acetate okay?"

"Sounds great." said Kirsten turning to her son. "Give me fifteen minutes to lose the ladies."

Ryan nodded and took a seat at one of the empty patio tables as Kirsten got to her feet and talked inside. He watched as his mother walked into the living room and quickly got everyone's attention.

"Here is an idea for our theme. How about a formal Vegas Night? It's not a black tie affair so we will not be going against our amendment and it still allows us to raise money by allowing gambling without having the generic title of Casino Night. Does that work for everyone?" she asked to the group at large. There was much nodding of heads and smiles throughout the room.

* * *

"Let's just make this quick, okay." said Kirsten who looked uncomfortable as she signed both herself and Ryan in.

Ryan nodded in agreement. He did not want to be in this depressing place any longer than she did. He could only imagine how Seth felt being stuck here. Ryan walked into the visiting area and sat down at one of the free available tables. He heard the buzzer that signaled the opening of the cell block gate and saw a mop of dark hair heading his way.

"Hey, how's it going?" asked Seth as both he and Ryan shook hands.

"I'm alright — wait, what the hell happened to you're neck?" asked Ryan, noticing the four small puncture marks on Seth's neck.

"What — oh, it's nothing. I was attacked by a mutant vampire." said Seth, raising both arms in a what-can-you-do sort of way.

"Don't worry, we both worked it out. Seriously, I'm fine." he said at Ryan's look.

Kirsten walked up behind her son and put her arms on his shoulder.

Seth looked up at her and did his best to give her a cheerful wave which she returned with a small smile.

"So, look. I am sorry that the plan did not work out quite like we had hoped. I thought we had everything figured out." said Ryan with an apologetic shrug of his shoulders.

"Don't sweat it, man. And try not to be too harsh on Marissa. I know she did not mean to spill the beans to Summer." said Seth.

"Hey, what's the matter, huh? Give me a smile."

Seth turned around to see the same guy that had shoved him earlier that morning.

"Yeah, I know. I know. To be honest I have not had a single chance to talk to her or Summer since. I heard from my dad that Luke was released. I can't believe Zach somehow weaseled his way out of this mess. Making Luke take the fall for the whole thing was pretty messed up." said Ryan.

Seth nodded.

"You've got a nice swerve on you, lady. You fine." said the inmate from across the room.

Kirsten tightened her grip on her son's shoulders and looked away.

"Hey, buddy," said Seth, trying to distract the inmate from talking to Kirsten any further, "stop proving to us that our tax dollars really are not going towards bettering public education, like the state promises. You're acting like the poster child for The March of Dimes." said Seth.

"Are you kidding me? You got a death wish or something, little man?' asked the other inmate getting to his feet and walking towards their table.

"Guards!" shouted Kirsten who was looking around hurriedly for help.

"Leave her alone!" yelled Ryan getting to his feet.

"Oh so this little honey is yours?" asked the inmate turning his attention to Ryan.

As the inmate made a motion as though he was trying to get up in Ryan's face, Seth acted. He leapt up from the table and up onto the inmates back, dragging his away from both Ryan and Kirsten. Feeling Seth's hands around his neck the inmate quickly leaned forward causing Seth to slide forward off of him and onto the floor.

"You're dead you hear me!" yelled the inmate as he began to punch Seth in the chest and face.

Ryan made a fruitless attempt to jump in and help Seth but was pushed aside by two guards who quickly broke up the fight. Kirsten looked down horrified to see Seth mopping up a bloody lip and nose.

* * *

It had been a very rough day at the office for Sandy. He had made numerous telephone calls inquiring information about the whereabouts of Seth's mother. He had to admit it to himself that Seth had been right. It was as if she had just faded into nothingness. It had been till late afternoon when he had finally received some information about Seth's mother. It had not been the good news he had been hoping for. Sandy, in his BMW, sat in the drive way thinking his entire afternoon over in his head. How was he suppose to explain to his wife, let alone Seth that the latter's .mother had been found dead. The police were still completing their investigation but from the looks of it, she had died of a drug overdose.

Sandy sighed heavily.

What was he going to do for the kid now?

Sandy pushed open the car door and climbed out, grabbing his briefcase as he did so. He didn't think he could bring himself to tell Seth that his mother had died the way she did. He knew he was going to have to tell Kirsten. He couldn't keep something like this from her. He pushed open the large front doors and the sounds of bullets, and car crashes greeted his ears. He could not believe that Ryan would have the audacity to disobey him. He thought they had made it quite clear when they had grounded him.

"What did we say, Ryan? No television!" yelled Sandy as he stormed into the living room.

Both Seth and Ryan looked up over the couch at Sandy who looked as though he had been struck dumb.

"Oh." he said, eyebrows raised.

There was an awkward silence then, Sandy exited the living room and walked into the kitchen where he found his wife leaning up against the kitchen island and sipping from a wine glass. Kirsten looked up from her glass of cabernet, her eyes on her husband.

"I never knew you to be an impulse shopper." said Sandy, feeling as though this would lighten the mood of the room.

"I did not know what else to do. They were going to kill him in there Sandy!" she said heatedly.

Now was not the time for jokes.

Sandy took a different approach.

"Well, did you tell him that it was permanent?"

"No, of course not." said Kirsten, her voice full of emotion, searching for answers.

"We cannot keep jerking this kid around, pulling him out of juvie, sending him to foster care, giving him hope, and taking it away from him."

"Look, I already told you. I couldn't just leave him in there. He cannot stay here though. We need to find his mother, Sandy!" demanded Kirsten.

Sandy bit his lip.

Kirsten noticed.

"What is it Sandy? Did you find something?" she asked.

Sandy sighed.

"No. Nothing, yet. The search continues. To be honest though, Seth doesn't even want to find his mother. When — when we find out what has happened to her, who's to say he won't go back to her?" asked Sandy.

"He's a kid Sandy, he doesn't know what he wants." exclaimed Kirsten, a little louder than was necessary.

"I will just have to think of it as staying in a hotel, won't I?" came a voice from behind them.

Both Kirsten and Sandy spun around to see Seth leaning against the doorway.

"Check out's at eleven, right?" he asked.

Both Kirsten and Sandy were taken a back, unable to think of what to say. Seth turned and left the kitchen. Kirsten turned to look at her husband then took a guilty sip of wine.

* * *

Seth awoke the next day, got dressed, and made his way out of the pool house and into the kitchen where he was not surprised to find Ryan sitting at the kitchen island eating dry cereal straight from the box.

"Dude, do you have something against the dairy industry?" asked Seth.

"Huh?"

"I never see you eating cereal from a bowl. You always eat is plain."

"I'm not much for spoons." said Ryan who pointed to the spot where Seth knew he would find a fresh beagle.

"More importantly though," began Ryan as Seth spread liberal amounts of cream cheese on his beagle, "What happened with you and Summer at the model home?"

"You mean before or after Luke and Zach kicked my ass?" joked Seth.

Ryan gave him a look.

"She came by to see me." said Seth, nibbling at his beagle to give himself some extra time to think things through. After a few silent seconds though Ryan spoke.

"And?"

"Well, I asked her to leave."

"You mean to tell me you had her up there in that model home with you, alone, and you asked her to leave?" said Ryan, bewildered.

"Dude, I thought I was going to be leaving the next day. It would have been really messed up to try something with her." said Seth is a defensive tone of voice.

"But you didn't leave. Not yet, anyway. Why don't you just go over and talk to her?" asked Ryan.

"I don't think I have ever heard to talk this much. It's kinda freaking me out." said Seth with a smirk.

Ryan ignored the change of subject.

"Well, you haven't left yet." said Ryan.

"Yeah, and after the whole model home thing I doubt your parents would be totally cool with me roaming the streets trying to find Summer's house. I'm sure those Newports would just love having me out there too come to think about it." said Seth.

"Newports?"

Seth gave him a look.

"Just go with it. Sounds a hell of a lot better that Newpsie."

"Well, I think you need to think of something to say to Summer when you see her. Set up for Vegas Night is later today, which means you will be seeing her tomorrow night." explained Ryan.

"Well, maybe I can win her over with some lucky dice rolls on the craps table." said Seth, finishing his beagle and leaving the kitchen to return to the pool house to get dressed for the day.

* * *

"So are you ever going to tell me what exactly happened between the two of you at the model home?" asked Marissa.

Summer looked at Marissa over her shoulder through the mirror she standing in front of. Both girls had spent the afternoon shopping once Summer had returned home from her date with Zach.

"Look, Coop, you're my best friend. When I say drop it, please just drop it. Absolutely nothing happened between us. It was stupid of me to go in the first place." explained Summer, soundingly slightly annoyed.

Marissa rolled her eyes.

"I went there and he told me to leave." said Summer.

"You mean to tell me that the two of you were all alone and that is how he chose to handle the situation." said Marissa in a skeptical voice.

"Petty much. I was there for all of five minutes, then I left and your boyfriend showed up and beat his-"

Marissa glared at Summer.

"You believe all that?" she asked.

"Look I don't know what to believe, okay. Luke's out of the slammer and I've tied things up with Zach. Not to mention Seth is gone now. I won't ever see him again so we can just move on from this and pretend it never happened." said Summer in a firm voice.

* * *

"I though you were going to be in the office all day?" asked Kirsten as her husband came speeding past, briefcase in hand.

"Sweetie, I'm going to be in the office, out of the office, all over the place today. We've got an early court date coming up that I need to prep for." said Sandy.

Kirsten frowned.

"I though you would be home at some point today. I have to go set up for Vegas Night. What am I suppose to do with Seth?" she asked.

Sandy paused.

"Look, honey I am sorry. I've got a few calls from the private investigator I have to attend to. I just stopped home to grab a few case files from the home office. Why don't the two of you spend some time together? Take him with you and Ryan." said Sandy.

Kirsten looked flabbergasted.

"With all those women? It's not like he going to be doing any leave lifting." she laughed.

"Sure, they'll love him! Make him blow up balloons. Lord knows we need them!" said Sandy as he dashed off to pick up the case files in his home office.

An hour later found the Cohen family, minus Sandy, and, with the addition of Seth pulling into a parking spot and hopping out of the Range Rover.

"I feel like we were just here." said Seth, shielding his eyes from the glare of the sun.

"We were." said Ryan.

Seth looked confused.

"The country club is where we usually host our events. We held the fashion show here the other day and in a few days time we will be hosting Cotillion." explained Kirsten with a smile.

"What's that? It sounds like an illness." said Seth, pulling a face to which Ryan smirked.

Kirsten ignored them.

They all walked up the steps and in through the front door to see many people busy at work.

"No, do not put the card table that close to the door! It needs to be over there, closer to the craps table!" ordered Julie Cooper, who seemed to be in command of the operation.

She turned around to see Kirsten.

"Kirsten, good to see you, finally." she said, her voice overjoyed.

"Hello, Julie. You remember my son Ryan."

Ryan gave a small wave.

"And this is Seth. He's been staying with us for a little bit while Sandy sorts things out." said Kirsten.

Seth reached out to shake hands but Julie merely looked him over and he withdrew it quickly.

"Well, we already have a few strong, strapping young men helping with the heavy lifting but, I'm sure we can find some work for these boys." said Julie motioning over her shoulder to Luke and Zach who were both busy carrying stack of chairs across the room.

Zach paused for a moment, taken aback at the sight of Seth. Luke stopped just short of walking into him from behind and looked over at Ryan.

"Well, this should be interesting." said Seth sarcastically.

"You're telling me." mimicked Ryan.

"What is that little punk still doing here?" asked Zach quietly to Luke.

"Beats me, man." said Luke who was following Ryan with his eyes as the other boy walked over to start moving boxes.

"They're both bad news if you ask me." began Luke.

"Yeah well after the other night, I thought we had finally gotten rid of him!" said Zach.

"Yeah, and speaking of the other night. You're still a total asshole for having me take the heat for you!" yelled Luke in a whisper.

"Don't start this crap with me again, man!" retorted Zach.

"I spent the night in lock up! You know how pissed off my parents were!"

"You're mom got a little teary eyed, big deal. You're dad wasn't even home! Besides, that is behind us. I've already got a plan to run that little dweeb out of Newport. Once his sidekick is out of the picture, I doubt we will have to worry about Ryan anymore. Things will be back to the way they were before summer began." said Zach.

"I take it this means you've patched things up with Summer?" asked Luke as he set down the large, heavy stack of hairs he had been carrying.

"Yep. All it took was lunch at The Yacht Club and my father's credit card." said Zach with a hearty laugh.

"Only thing that might derail that is both of those losers showing up to Vegas Night." said Luke, sounding annoyed.

"I'm not too worried about it, to be honest with you. Like I said, I've got something to put into action, should that kid try anything. Right now it's all about just keeping things calm and cool." said Zach as he too set down the large stack of chairs he had been carrying.

Luke nodded.

* * *

It was late in the evening when Sandy finally arrived home from the office. It had been another rough day. He still had no idea how to bring up the conversation that he knew needed to be held with both his wife and Seth. It was just too much to think about at the moment. He had spent so much time trying to lift Seth's spirits that he did not want all that to come crashing down. Sandy walked into the kitchen to see the remains of what had been that evens dinner. Ryan had insisted that they order take out after overruling his mother's want to hook for the evening. It appeared as though the two boys were off in the pool house. Sandy could only assume that his wife was in their bedroom. He set down his briefcase and an assortment of files and picked up one of the to-go boxes and popped it in the microwave.

A few minutes later and Sandy was easing himself into one of the lounge chair out by the pool. He could see both Seth and Ryan in the pool house. Seth seemed to be telling Ryan a story about God knows what.

The day would come when he would have to tell Seth the truth. But, right now did not seem like the moment. All of a sudden the stack of papers he had left on the counter fell into his lap and a very angry Kirsten stood behind him, one hand gripping his shoulder.

"When in the hell were you going to share this with me?" she asked softly.

Sandy's heart fell. It would have been better had she bellowed the words at him. He turned to face his wife.

"I was going to tell you."

"Oh, you were. All this talk about giving that boy hope and everything and you're keeping this from him? From me?" she asked angrily.

"You and I both know it will crush him when he finds out. I just wasn't ready to take that happiness away from him. He says he doesn't miss his mother or care about where she has run off to but I know deep down inside it's going to kill him when he finds out." said Sandy, picking up the case files and his food and getting to his feet. This conversation would be better felt with back inside.

"When did you find out?" asked Kirsten as Sandy closed the door behind him.

Sandy sighed.

"A few days ago. I wanted to tell you, honey, I really did." he said in a defeated voice.

"What are we suppose to do now? He doesn't have a family to go back to and putting him into foster care, well—" she broke off and poured herself a glass of wine.

"I think he's starting to grow on you." said Sandy.

"Look, we need to tell him. We might be getting in way over our heads here. We can figure this whole mess out after Vegas Night." said Kirsten, ignoring her husbands previous comment but smiling slightly.

* * *

"I still have no idea what I am suppose to say to her, Ryan." said Seth sounding anxious.

"Well, just be honest with her. You're here for another night."

"Yeah well what about you and Marissa? She has to still be harboring feelings for you, or something. She offered to drive us all the way out to the model home. Nobody just does that." said Seth.

Ryan quelled him with a look.

"Doesn't matter, she's with Luke now anyway."

"Yeah, and speaking of those two. What are we going to do if they try and start something with me tonight?"

It was mid afternoon now the following day as both Seth, and Ryan sat at the kitchen island. Seth was eating a beagle while Ryan had a late cup of coffee. Both boys had been up late the night before.

"I think it will be rather difficult to have a conversation with both Zach, and Luke there." said Seth.

"With all the parents there? They wouldn't try anything." said Ryan, taking a sip from his coffee mug.

"Alright, so I just need to get her away from Zach for a minute to explain things. I think I can do that!" said Seth as Kirsten walked into the kitchen.

"Good afternoon." she said to the two boys.

"Same to you." replied Ryan.

"I will want the both of you dressed and ready to leave by six, alright?" said Kirsten.

"You got it, boss. Though I have no idea what I am suppose to wear." joked Seth.

"I am sure we can find you something nice." said Kirsten with a smile.

* * *

"Well it beats the jumpsuit for sure." said Seth, as he and the Cohen's climbed out of the Ranger Rover; Kirsten passing off the keys to the valet.

"You do clean up rather nice." said Sandy as they walked up the steps and into the country club.

"Wow." said Seth as he looked out over the room.

"I've never been to Vegas before but, I gotta say this is amazing! Are all of your parties like this?" he asked, looking over at Kirsten.

She smiled back at him.

"You two have fun. And stay out of trouble." she said.

"Kirsten!"

Kirsten turned to see Julie Cooper walking up to her.

"Another perfect event."

"Jimmy, how are you doing?" asked Sandy.

Both men shook hands.

"I'm doing good." said Jimmy, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Business doing well?" asked Sandy.

"It's good. It's good." he said sounding a little uncomfortable.

Sandy opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by his wife, who had chosen that moment to lead in and give her old friend a hug.

"Good to see you again Jimmy!" she said jovially.

"Sandy, would you like a drink?" asked Kirsten.

Sandy came to his senses.

"Why, yes, I would love one." he said, waving to both Julie and Jimmy and then escorting his wife to the bar.

* * *

"Betting kinda big aren't you there?" asked Ryan.

"Dude, it's for charity. Besides the count is way positive." said Seth with a wink.

Both boys had chosen to sit down at one of the open blackjack tables. Seth had tried to look around for Summer but it appeared as though she had not yet arrived, nor it seemed, had Zach.

"You're counting? You do realize that is not a single deck, right?" asked Ryan.

"Dude, trust me. If they teach you anything in this world, the count goes way higher with multiple decks." said Seth.

"Blackjack!" said the dealer, smiling.

"Bingo!" said Seth, passing his winning over to Ryan.

"Since when do you gamble?" asked Ryan taking the chips and adding them to his smaller stack.

"My mother may have been a junkie but, if there was one thing she was good at, it was gambling. How else do you think she managed to pay the rent?" said Seth with a hallow laugh.

After another ten minutes at the tables, both boy's stacks of chips had increased substantially, so they decided to move on to a different table. Seth filled Ryan in on a few of the other tables since Ryan had never gambled a day in his life. They spent most of their time at the craps table. Seth explained that it was one of the easiest ways to rack in chips.

"When I'm old enough, I'll take you to Las Vegas and show you how its done." chuckled Seth.

"Can I get the six and the eight, please?" he asked, passing a few chips over to the dealer.

"Why don't you throw?" asked Ryan, when Seth had opted out of throwing for the second time.

"I let other people make my money for me." explained Seth.

"Well that's goo to know." said Ryan, though it seemed as though Seth had not heard him.

"Seth?"

Seth it seemed had been struck dumb. He was staring off into the distance at the front door and it didn't take very long for Ryan to figure out why. Standing in the doorway of to the Country Club stood Summer and Marissa. Both were dressed in simple, yet stunning cocktail dresses, Marissa in a soft cream color, while Summer wore bright red.

"Wow." cooed Seth.

Ryan looked over at Marissa. He too seemed to be lost for words.

Luke and Zach then walked in behind not girls, bringing the two boys back to their senses.

* * *

"So, what's this I am hearing about you having a cousin from Boston visiting?" asked Jimmy, walking up to the bar to stand next to Kirsten.

"Huh? Oh, no Seth is one of Sandy's clients. He has been staying with us for a few days while Sandy sorts things out." said Kirsten, taking a sip of her drink.

"Ah."

"How about you? Are you okay, Jimmy?" asked Kirsten, looking some what concerned.

"Me? Oh, I am alright. The market has been all over the place this past year but, it's nothing I cannot handle." he said.

"You know if you need anything you can always come to me Jimmy." said Kirsten, patting him on the shoulder and leaving to find her husband.

* * *

"Hey."

Summer turned around and received a shock.

"What in the world are you still doing here?" she demanded, looking around frantically.

Seth knew she was looking for Zach. He had to be quick. He did not want to cause a scene in front of all of these people.

"I guess you could say I haven't quiet punched my ticket out of Newport, yet. I was wondering if we could talk for a minute?"

"Look, Zach just went to use the restroom. Now is not the best time for us to be talking. Besides, after everything that you said at the model home—" began Summer.

"Look, I thought I was going to be leaving for good that day. You and I both know I wanted you to stay, but to do that and then just leave for good in the morning? It would not have felt right." said Seth.

"Well you're right anyway. We're both from two very different worlds. It's not like you're moving in with the Cohen's, anyway." said Summer.

"So, you're saying if I was—" began Seth.

"Look, Zach and I, we've worked out our issues. He really can be a sweet guy." started Summer, looking up into Seth's face.

Seth's face fell.

"I need you to go, okay. I don't want to cause a scene and you and I really have nothing more to say to each other." said Summer with a sniff.

Was she starting to cry?

"Please, just go before he gets back. You'll be gone soon enough and we wont have to worry about this problem anymore. I'll be out of your life and you will be out of mine, alright!" said Summer.

Seth stood rooted to the spot for a few more seconds before he turned tail and left.

He was ready to leave. All the happiness he had felt earlier seemed to have been sucked out of the place, leaving nothing but cold, and sad thoughts. Seth walked through the crowd of people, searching for Sandy and Kirsten. He found them one he had managed to squeeze through a large crowd of people at one of the craps tables. It looked as though they were arguing about something. Seth saw them slip away into one of the empty side rooms and followed. He would just talk to Ryan in the morning.

"Look, I know we need to tell him Kirsten. Believe me, it's been on my mind since I got the news. I just don't want to break the poor kids heart. Last thing we need is for him to try and run away again." said Sandy.

"His mother is dead, Sandy. He has every right in the world to know that! Keeping this from him will only make it that much harder to tell him when we see — him—"

Both adults turned to see Seth standing in the doorway.

"What?" he asked looking horrified.

"Seth —" began Sandy.

Kirsten was at a loss for words.

"My mother is dead? How — when?"

"Look, we wanted to tell you." said Sandy, walking forward.

Kristen's eyes had started to well up.

Sandy reached out a hand to grasp Seth's shoulder but Seth pushed it away.

"You lied to me. You call this helping me? My mother is dead and you think that's something that you can just keep from me?" yelled Seth.

"No, that's not true." said Kirsten.

"I have to go." said Seth turning on his heels and within seconds collided with a passing waiter. Empty drink glasses crashed to the floor sending shards of glass in all directions. A few people screamed as heads turned in Seth's direction. He quickly got to his feet and pushed his way through the crowd, leaving behind a shocked Sandy and a crying Kristen.

:END:

Author's Notes:

Well, that took a lot longer than I thought it would. I know that, while lengthy, the chapter ends abruptly. Nothing wrong with a good cliff hanger to keep you readers wondering when the next chapter will arrive. I've got a good idea of what you all can expect in the next few chapters, though I need to brush up on season two to see if there is anything, or any characters apart from Zach that I want to bring in early. I've got the ground work laid for both Neil's and Jimmy's fall from grace. It also seems like Kirsten is finally starting to enjoy having Seth around the house. Expect lots of drama in the next chapter. Cotillion is coming. As always, please leave a review and tell me what you think!


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